“The first thing he said when he got up this morning was, ‘Ride Aunt Sarah horse,’ ” Kathy says. “We told him that might be a little bit of a rodeo this morning.”

“Her neck is a mile long. It’s really clean, and that right there will set a show horse apart from the rest of them.”

UPDATE: Just moments ago, Susan Roberts piloted Only A Breeze to a win in the Maturity Non-Pro Western Pleasure Stakes.

“I love showing babies, especially her,” she says. “I just reckon she’s my type. We match together; we’re both small.

“It’s great, especially for me as a European, because we don’t have very big shows at home. It’s huge. There is nothing like this at home.”

UPDATE: It turns out that Monica Hamm’s decision to show her aged gelding, RPL My Te Cheerful, was the right choice. Just moments ago, she won the Grand Champion title in Youth Geldings. With some assistance from her little sister, Kaylee, Hamm also won the Reserve title with Boys N Toys.

“Willy is a beautiful mover and has some of the prettiest lope-overs you’ll see. He’s a very soft-moving horse and very pretty and expressive over the poles. It’s an attractive picture overall.”

“He won with him at the Youth World, this is his third horse show with him, and he wins the Congress! It’s pretty exciting.”

Parrish is very proud of this mare’s performance today, but he is even more excited to deliver such a memorable birthday present to Mrs. Alice, her first Congress Championship win.

“This is kind of a little diamond in the rough,” Gilliam says.